Alright, Good Nigh—

I'd leave Narikin's side of things alone until the dungeon clear got tough enough to warrant stepping in.

It wasn't that I couldn't do anything at all… but you could say there were plenty of loopholes for action, if you looked at it that way.

However, if I jumped in too soon, Rokuko would complain and potentially pile on even more "restrictions," so for now I'd just wait and see.

"… In that case, yeah. Nothing I can do for a while."

Even if I did act, it'd be right up against the deadline for the deemed married designation.

I'd been planning to help out in all sorts of ways this afternoon, so my schedule was wide open.

… Wait. Could it be that I'm free? Which means… I could sleep?

In other words, this was my chance to indulge in some sweet, sweet sloth. I quietly laid out my futon.

"Alright, good nigh—"

"Master, we've got trouble!"

A sudden barrage of furious knocking, accompanied by Ichika's voice announcing an emergency.

I wanted to snap "I'll knock YOUR lights out"… but it was a perfectly normal time to be awake, so I'd let it slide. At least she had the decency to knock.

"What is it, Ichika? Did you get caught moonlighting to pay off your debts?"

"That ain't it! That was a misunderstanding! Wait, that's not what this is about!"

If it's not about that, then what?

"A new dungeon's been found nearby!! Master, do you know anything about it!?"

"… Uh oh."

Well, would you look at that. Could that be the filming dungeon? The one currently being cleared?

 

＊ ＊ ＊

 

The filming dungeon was one of Rokuko's sub-dungeons.

That meant it had to be within a reasonable distance of Rokuko's main body, [Cave of Desires], or the DP costs would skyrocket.

We'd built it a fair distance from Golen Village, but… apparently, an adventurer on an herb-gathering quest had stumbled upon it.

While the filming dungeon's entrance had been somewhat concealed, it wasn't completely inaccessible. After all, if no one could enter, the dungeon would stop functioning. The same held true for sub-dungeons, or rather, no matter how convoluted the path, there had to be a connected route from the Dungeon Core all the way through.

In other words, the risk of discovery had always been substantial. Especially now, with Karisoto District causing both the general population and adventurer numbers to swell.

Of course, this wasn't Soto's fault. It was an accident born of my own carelessness.

"Umm, so in other words, it's your dungeon, Master?"

"That's right. And it's scheduled for destruction."

"Ooh. That's bad on a lot of levels, Master. Dungeons have to be reported to the Guild. And destroying a dungeon is a serious crime in this empire, yeah?"

"Hmm."

That was something I could probably get around by explaining the situation to Haku-san, but…

It would raise the question of how a mere village chief could so easily get special permission from the nation.

"… Yeah, can't we just wait until Saintess Alka destroys it and quietly pretend it never existed?"

"No chance. It's already been found."

Right. It had been found, and since word had already reached Ichika, the Guild was already in the loop.

"Hold on, how was that adventurer so sure it was a dungeon? Could've just been a goblin den."

"! That's it, Master!"

Ichika jabbed a finger my way with a snap.

"'They just mistook it for a goblin den. This isn't a dungeon!' That excuse should totally fly!"

"Oh! Nice one, Ichika. As a reward, I'll lift the penalty I gave you over that debt thing."

"Oh, for real!? Sweet!"

Niku had told me I was being too soft on Ichika, so I'd given her a minor punishment, but that was beside the point.

"Well, the question is who says it, right? We need someone with credibility."

"Well… the village's top adventurer saying it should do the trick."

"So that'd be Gozoh…"

"Nah, that'd be you, Master."

Oh, right. Me. Given my rank and title, that tracked.

"… But will people actually believe me?"

"Just kick out anyone who doesn't, yeah? You're the village chief."

Wow, dictatorship.

"That said, if you don't cover it up quick, the story'll spread too far to contain."

"Right. Ichika, tell the Guild that I'm already aware and currently investigating."

"Roger that!"

With that, Ichika dashed off toward the Guild.

… Right, I needed to keep up the appearance of investigating. Let's see, set up the keep-out rope so it looked like it had "fallen and been easy to miss"… and as for the dungeon itself, I'd scatter things around to make it look like a goblin den…

Wait, modifying the dungeon wouldn't violate Rokuko's restrictions, would it!?

Better bring it up now so she couldn't complain later. I opened the communication link.

"Rokuko, can I do some minor modifications to the cleared cave areas of the dungeon? Some village adventurers found it, and I need to cover it up."

"… Mm, I suppose that can't be helped. Fine, as long as it's the cleared areas."

Good.

These kinds of mundane check-ins were really important, you know.

"… Tch, if you hadn't said anything, I could've counted it as breaking your promise and demanded all sorts of things."

"The comm's still on, Rokuko."

"I was just thinking how I'd like Kehma to turn into a Succubus and be my body pillow. Nothing worth hiding, really."

"I see."

… These kinds of mundane check-ins were REALLY important, you know!!